


The Final Act

by heylittleangel



Series: Supernatural Codas - Season 15 [20]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Destiel is canon, Feelings, Fix-It, God!Jack, Happy Ending, Human!Castiel - Freeform, Jack is a cute little bean, M/M, Resurrected Castiel (Supernatural), kind of a coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27602644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heylittleangel/pseuds/heylittleangel
Summary: The world is back in its place and Jack has only one more thing to do before he can truly rest: bring Castiel back.
Relationships: Castiel & Jack Kline, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Supernatural Codas - Season 15 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1513883
Comments: 19
Kudos: 115





	The Final Act

**Author's Note:**

> This has been on my head since last week and I decided to post it soon, before the finale came out, just because. Hopefully, it'll help tame some nerves while we wait for Thursday.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“He’s restless, isn’t he?” Jack stares at the Empty, looks at its real form, and feels the anger inside it; the hatred and the rage and the tiredness. “He won’t let you sleep.”

The Empty doesn’t answer but Jack doesn’t need it to; he knows exactly what it is thinking:  _ take him away; make him sleep; let  _ me _ sleep. _ And Jack wants to; he wants to take Castiel away, bring him back to Earth where he belongs. And, while he could just take Castiel away without the Empty’s consent, that’s not who Jack wants to be because he doesn’t to want end up like Chuck, meddling and poking into people’s lives just because he has the power to do it. He has no right in doing those things.

Still, it’s not just because of his powers that Jack wants to do it. He wants to because he’s still  _ Jack _ ; because he still remembers the safe feeling he had whenever he was around Castiel; he still knows the certainty he had on Castiel, how he would do everything he could to protect Jack. The love he has for Castiel is still there and Jack can’t imagine allowing Castiel to stay in this place; in this cold, dark place, a place that makes Castiel relieve all the things he regrets over and over again—and he knows there are hundreds of other angels going through the same and that saving Castiel makes him look selfish, but he can’t care about it at the moment.

And Jack wants to protect Castel from that; he wants to save him just as Castiel saved him so many times. He also can’t help but think about Dean and Sam and how they’re suffering with Castiel’s absence, how the pain and the grief are still in them, as relieved as they are for the world being safe. Jack wants to protect them as much as he can.

So that’s why Jack walks forward, stepping closer to the Empty and staring straight at it. “I can take him from here, bring him back to Earth. You’ll get your sleep back and I’ll make sure you won’t be bothered if I can help it. But you have to give me permission and accept the fact that Castiel won’t be coming back here. Not again, not  _ ever _ .”

The Empty doesn’t seem keen on accepting the terms, the reluctance and the stubbornness in letting Castiel go after so much work to bring him close, to trap him in an endless sleep, to make him suffer. But both Jack and the entity know Castiel isn’t someone you contain; God himself tried and failed to do it.

Seconds stretch into minutes that seem to stretch into hours as the Empty stares right into Jack, trying to decipher his intentions and to analyze how true Jack is being with his promise. But Jack’s got nothing to hide; it can look as much as it wants, search for any inconsistency in Jack’s promise for as long as it wants because it won’t find anything. If there is something Jack has learned is to always be true, even when it hurts, because it won’t hurt as much as it will when the truth finally knocks on the door—and it always does. Jack has learnt that lesson in the hardest way.

Finally, the Empty quietly agrees, waving its hand to make Castiel appear between the two of them, still asleep. There’s no peace in Castiel though; his muscles tense up and his restlessness comes in waves at Jack, showing some of the memories he’s relieving. The thing that truly gets Jack’s attention is the feeling of regret Castiel has about his own feelings, caused by not being true to himself and to others, especially Dean. And Jack wants to make it right, wants to give the two a chance at being as happy as they deserve to be.

So he looks at Empty, nodding at it softly. “Thank you. I will let you return to your sleep now.”

Its form slowly melts onto the floor, turning solid until it disappears completely, an outer-worldly quietness finally settling over the Empty. Jack kneels by Castiel’s side, placing a hand on his shoulder to slowly pull him out of his slumber. Castiel awakes with a gasp, his eyes fluttering open, pupils blown wide and filled with fear. Jack waits for Castiel to calm down, letting him look around as he realizes he’s alive and awake, but still in the Empty.

When he seems adjusted to being awake once again, he turns to Jack, his face illuminating, a hand reaching towards him before brusquely pulling it back. “Are you a dream?”

Jack smiles softly, reaching out his own hand and waiting for Castiel to touch it, to see it’s real. “I am not a dream, Cas. It really is me.”

Castiel gapes, staring at Jack in amazement, pushing himself to his knees so he can put his arms around Jack, pulling him tight onto his chest. “But, if you’re here, it means you’re— Are you dead, Jack?”

“No, and neither are you.” Jack gently pulls away, standing up and extending a hand towards Castiel. “I”m taking you back to Earth, Cas. If you want to.”

The surprise on Castiel’s face is so powerful Jack almost chuckles. He tugs Castiel’s hand to pull him up and to shake him out of his stupor. “B-but Jack,  _ how _ ? What happened?”

“I think that’s an answer best left for Dean and Sam. I imagine you will want to see them?” Castiel smiles, pulling Jack in for another hug and Jack lets himself sink onto the hug for just a few seconds; he has missed Castiel so much for so little time, he now just wants to stay with him, even knowing he shouldn’t.

Castiel pulls away, placing his hands on Jack’s cheeks and staring intently at him. “You’ve grown. You’ve gained Chuck’s powers, haven’t you?” Jack nods softly, lips dry as he fears Castiel’s reactions, but he only smiles, sliding his hands to Jack’s shoulders and squeezing them affectionately. “I’m proud of you. I’m certain you’ll be a much better God than Chuck could have ever been.”

Jacks smiles, his cheeks tinting pink with the compliment. “Thank you, Cas. Are you ready to go back to Earth and stay there this time?” 

Castiel chuckles, nodding. “More than ready.”

“But there’s something I should tell you before.” Castiel turns to him, his smile slowly fading, replaced by fear. “If I take you back, you’ll become human once more. No turning into one or another anymore.”

Castiel nods, his shoulders relaxing down his back, relief softening his features. “It’ll be a nice change to finally be just one of them. Being human is… an extraordinary experience. I’ll be happy as one.”

“And you won’t ever need to come back here.”

“Yes, that’s also a plus side.” 

They smile at each other, and Jack can see how lighter Castiel seems, how he seems so adjusted to the idea of being one hundred percent human again; and Jack can’t blame him. As long as Castiel is happy with his choices, Jack is also happy.

He places a hand on Castiel’s shoulder and, together, they plunge into darkness as Jack guides them to Lebanon, right outside the bunker. The front door is closed as usual, but there are cars parked close by and the sounds of what seems like a celebration coming from the inside, cheering and laughter and clapping. Castiel turns to face him, his expression anxious, seeming in doubt between knocking on the door or staying with Jack.

Nodding to the door, Jack says, “Go on. They’ll be ecstatic in seeing you.”

Castiel smiles sadly. “You’re not coming, are you?” Jack only shakes his head, knowing he doesn’t need to put it into words for Castiel; they both understand it well enough.

Once Castiel has knocked on the door, Jack places his hand back on his shoulder, letting just a flick of power flow through his fingers and onto Castiel. Instantly, he can see Castiel’s wings slowly finish to disintegrate, Castiel’s grace changing until it resembles a human soul. Castiel turns to him, amazement written on his face, a big smile pulling his lips up. He doesn’t say anything but Jack doesn’t need any words, just as Castiel didn’t need any from him. Jack just wants him to be happy and he knows that being human and being with his family once again is what will make Castiel happy.

Jack smiles at Castiel, his form starting to shimmer and disappear. “Enjoy, Castiel. Be happy.”

He stays long enough to see Dean open the door to the bunker, his eyes widening when he sees Castiel, not wasting a second before pulling Castiel into his arms in a crushing bear hug. Jack leaves them like that, clinging to each other as if their lives depend on it, which Jack can’t say for sure it doesn’t. The happiness he sees on their faces is enough to assure Jack that he has done the right thing and that’s enough for him.

The world is at peace and safe, Team Free Will is back together and ready to go back to their own lives, and the people are free to do as they will. There is nothing more Jack can want now; there is nothing more he needs to do but live.

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> So, did you like it? Leave a comment and a kudo and make this writer very happy!
> 
> As always, you can find me on [ tumblr](gii-heylittleangel.tumblr.com/)


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